Iran, South Korea Summon Ambassadors Over 'Enemy' Remarks

Bernard Phelan was arrested on October 3 during anti-regime protests that have swept the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 16.

His family says he has been on hunger strike since the beginning of the New Year and has even stopped taking medication for a heart condition. He is also refusing water.

Bernard Phelan, 64, who is a travel consultant has been accused by the Islamic Republic of "propaganda against the establishment" and "photographing police and security officers". He is imprisoned in Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad northeast of Iran.

"He is showing serious signs of physical and psychological exhaustion" added the official, saying despite repeated requests of the governments of France and the Republic of Ireland to release him for medical reasons, the Islamic Republic has refused to do so.

Phelan’s sister, Caroline Masse-Phelan, told AFP Wednesday that her brother was an innocent man detained for reasons "beyond our comprehension."

She said his health condition meant he had to be released urgently.

"It's a matter of days. He's an innocent man caught in the middle of I don't know what. He loves Iran, he is 64, sick, and wants to go home," she said.

"I think he is part of a group of Europeans imprisoned for political reasons ... of which I know nothing," his sister added. "We have nothing to do with this story."

Several foreigners visiting Iran have disappeared during the nationwide protests, confirming earlier reports that the Islamic Republic is taking foreign citizens hostage.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell that the EU will "shoot itself in the foot" state media said.

"We have repeatedly said the Revolutionary Guards are a formal and sovereign organization whose role is central for guaranteeing Iran's security. Steps taken by the European Parliament to list the organization as terrorist are in a way a shot in the foot of Europe itself," Iran's foreign minister said.

On Wednesday the European Parliament in an overwhelming vote called for the EU to list the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, blaming it for the repression of domestic protesters and the supply of kamikaze drones to Russia's military, which uses it to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.

While the regime in Tehran insists that the IRGC is the country’s formal military organization and should be immune from sanctions by other states, the entity engages in widespread unconventional activities, such as domestic repression and foreign interferences in region countries. It maintains a domestic intelligence organization and prisons for dissidents, as well as engages in torture and other human rights violations.

Widespread anti-government demonstrations erupted in Iran in September after the death of Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who had been detained over flouting the strict dress code imposed on women.

The European Parliament condemned the crackdown on protesters by Iran's security forces, led by the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, as "brutal".

These security and intelligence forces have killed around 500 civilians during the protests, maimed hundreds of other, jailed thousands and executed for detainees.

Both the resilience of the protest movement and the strong foreign reactions to government brutality have posed the most serious challenge to the clerical regime in Iran since its establishment in 1979.

The US State Department Wednesday refused to comment on specific steps by the EU, but spokesperson Ned Price told reporters, “What – where we do see eye to eye with our European partners is a recognition that Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. There is no more nefarious exporter of international terrorism than Iran. There is no disagreement between the United States and our European allies on this.”

"It is necessary to respect mutual security in the world of diplomacy and increase mutual trust instead of following the language of threats and unfriendly actions. In any case of a terrorist listing, Iran will take reciprocal measures," Amir-Abdollahian said.

The foreign minister’s remarks contradict the behavior of Islamic Republic officials who for decades have threatened the West, Israel and some Arab regional countries.

Iran and world powers, including EU members France and Germany, have engaged in negotiations since 2021 to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, with discussions in a stalemate since September.

Mehr news agency claimed Wednesday that this was due to "security issues" which caused a 40-minute delay in the match that was supposed to be held in the stadium.

The report adds that Igor Levitin along with the governor of Iran’s Gilan province, the deputy minister of roads and Astara's MP were onboard the chopper headed to Astara to launch a railway project between Iran and Russia, but their copter suddenly landed in the stadium.

Iranian media have reported that half an hour before the start of the match, helicopters landed without any prior notice.

The claim of the presence of Putin's aide to launch the railway comes as the construction of this project has been delayed for over two decades and has not even kicked off yet.

The railway is supposed to connect Rasht in northern Iran to Astara and from there to the railway of the Azerbaijan Republic which is already connected to Russia. Iranian officials have recently announced they have begun negotiations with Moscow to develop the project.

IRNA news agency reported Wednesday that the most important achievement of Levitin’s trip to Iran so far has been the confirmation of Russia's participation in the rail project.

Russia has not yet officially announced whether it will participate in this one-billion-dollar project.

In response to questions, the State Department did confirm that messages are being delivered to the Islamic Republic of Iran, even though the nuclear deal, JCPOA, “is not on the agenda.”

In response to questions submitted by Iran International on January 17, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “We have the means to deliver specific and firm messages to Iran when it is in America’s interest to do so.”

Iran International had asked the DoS that according to information it obtained, US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley met with Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Saeed Iravani, “at least three times in the last two months.”

“But we're not going to get into details about how we deliver these messages, except to say that we do so in close coordination with allies and partners.”

In its response, the DoS did not deny or confirm Malley’s possible meetings with Tehran’s envoy but underlined that the US has its channels to communicate messages to the Iranian side.

Iran International followed up with the specific question to the State Department on January 18, “Just to confirm that you are not denying that meetings between Mr. Iravani and Mr. Malley took place in recent months in NY.”

A second response received from a spokesperson repeated that “As we have said, we have the means to deliver messages to Iran when it is in our interest to do so.”

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“I am not going to get into details about how we deliver these messages, but we do so in close coordination with allies and partners and make no apologies for delivering them firmly and consistently,” the spokesman responded.

Regarding the content of these messages, spokesperson Ned Price, in the first response on January 17, said, “We have consistently conveyed three messages: stop killing peaceful protesters, stop selling weapons to Russia to kill Ukrainians, and release the Americans you’ve wrongfully detained. We also use any available opportunity to make clear that we will take necessary steps to protect American citizens.”

If Malley did meet Iravani face-to-face, it would be the first reported direct meeting between US and Iranian diplomats since the Biden administration assumed office and offered talks to revive the JCPOA. Iran has consistently refused direct talks with the United States.

If any indirect talks took place between Malley and Iravani, for example, through European diplomats, the State Department chose not to specify it, except saying that Washington has the means to deliver messages to Tehran.

Asked to comment on the news, Richard Goldberg of the Washington thinktank FDD and the Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council from 2019-2020, said, "A secret backdoor betrayal of the Iranian people at this moment should be condemned by all Americans. Congress should investigate these reports thoroughly and anyone involved should be compelled to testify."

Tehran’s deadly suppression of protests since mid-September and its delivery of kamikaze drones to Russia, being used to attack Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, have heightened tensions between the Islamic Republic and Western powers. Also, 18 months of talks to restore the 2015 nuclear accord reached a deadlock right before protests broke out in Iran.

European countries and institutions are debating about listing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, which would further reduce the chances of any foreseeable improvement in relations.

While Iran can free some of the thousands of detained prisoners, the ongoing violations of human rights both inside and outside the prisons are so widespread, that the whole security and judicial system must be overhauled before any meaningful change takes place.

In addition, Iran is not expected to end its close military and other types of cooperation with Russia, to satisfy Western demands before any nuclear talks can be resumed.

Iranian state media reported that rescue teams are dispatched to the quake-hit area in Khoy but have not reported any casualties yet.

Red Crescent official Morteza Moradipour told ISNA news agency that an earthquake of 5.4 magnitude hit Khoy city at 13:38 p.m.

According to him, the quake was at the depth of 12 kilometers.

He stated that about 20 minutes before the earthquake, a 3.6-magnitude foreshock was felt in the same area at a depth of 13 kilometers; therefore, the rescue teams had already been ready and dispatched to the earthquake-affected area promptly.

Iran is crisscrossed by major geological fault lines and is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world because it is located where the Arabian, Indian, and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

Iran has had a terrible history of massive earthquakes in recent decades, with some killing up to tens of thousands of people and causing billions in damages, such as the magnitude 6.6 quake in Kerman province in 2003 that killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam.